Our Congolese Adoption

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

sobering

Last week was a sobering one, as we learned that Brad's cousin's wife, who has an almost-5-month-old baby boy, had a brain tumor that was found to be aggressive and malignant. She had surgery last Thursday morning to have it removed, but there will be a great deal of recovery needed (although she's already home!), and they are still waiting on official results regarding the specifics of the tumor. No matter what, she (Rebekah) her husband (Adam), and their sweet baby (Brayden) will continue to need to be lavished with prayer, positivity and probably help with meals, childcare, etc. as Rebekah focuses on getting healthy and strong. Please pray for them EVERY DAY, as thousands of people are doing already. As we learned throughout our adoption process and the early entry of our second son, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16) Rebekah is a spitfire with a lot of fight in her, and she has a multitude of people pulling for her and praying her through this, so please join in the story God writes.

As Bradlee said on Facebook, we will take a cue from Brecken and Brayden and get through this together.

On a similar note, we got to spend some time with little Brayden (most chill baby ever!) last week while Rebekah was in the hospital, and let me tell you, having three kids is tough! Brayden is a sweet little guy, but his cousin Brecken is sometimes a "diva" who likes to have attention on him at all times. Having three kids to bathe, feed, change, and cuddle makes a lot of other daily chores virtually impossible. (So we enjoyed it and let the house suffer the consequences.) **Shout out to Adam's parents, who managed 3 kids--twins Adam and Jared, and 16-months-older Melissa--every day of their lives!**Brecken and Brayden got in some nice cousin time! (Seems to me they both like to cuddle!)

However, the next day Bradlee noted, "I'd be ok if our next adoption went in slow motion." I would say we aren't QUITE ready for three babies. However, that didn't stop us from putting in a pre-application for a home study update (the very first step in the process of adoption). We are hoping this process goes at a nice, easy pace to allow us to get grant applications sent out all over and hopefully get some grant money to help with our next adoption. (People keep asking me if I was really serious about adopting again...there's your answer.)